Pair of Flintlock Holster pistols

These pistols are arguably the most elaborately decorated firearms ever made in England. Their maker was Peter Monlong, a French Huguenot gunmaker and Gentleman-Armourer-in-Ordinary to William III. The portrait bust on the cock crew of these pistols may be based on a medallion of the King. Despite the MONLONG LONDINI which is engraved at the locks, the works are entirely French in style and elaborately inlaid with scrolls, birds, animals and figures, including Diana and her hounds on the butt, Apollo driving the chariot of the sun on the trigger guard, and Fortitude near the fore-end. The decorative motifs are derived from pattern books published in Paris in 1685 and 1693.